Agenda - Public Works Committee - 03/21/2023

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Economic Development Manager Sullivan commented that the results turned out worse than they were expecting in terms of mitigation. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if the City sells wetland credits. Economic Development Manager Sullivan commented that the City has 1.7 acres in banked credits available. He explained that those credits can be used for road projects to mitigate impacts as well. City Engineer/Public Works Director Westby replied that those credits have been saved for years in anticipation of these projects. Economic Development Manager Sullivan commented that the last time they checked, the cost per acre for wetland credits was $128,000. He stated that some of these wetland become expensive because one acre of mitigation would have a financial cost of two acres of credits. He stated that the waterfront is only going to be dug once and therefore anything the City does not do at this time will be a future cost of a developer. Chairperson Riley asked for input on priority. City Engineer/Public Works Director Westby provided details on the hotel project and proposed access points. He stated that the profile of Zeolite needs to be determined so that access can be properly created. He noted another site with development potential, as well as the waterfront that would require realignment of Center Street. He believed that those roadway improvements should be considered. City Administrator Hagen stated that this study looked at this area as a whole. He noted that Veterans Drive would have the right-in/right-out created with the Highway 10 project and the remainder of the site is up to grade and is in essence shovel ready. He stated that most of the benefit would be in the western side of the COR and around the waterfront area. Councilmember Musgrove stated that this study provides a lot of information and more tasks than could be done in one year. She asked for details on the number of priorities that could be accomplished. She agreed that if the hotel is coming in and wants to access off Zeolite, that should then be a priority. She also agreed that Center Street should be a priority because of the waterfront. She stated that if the digging and fill for parcel 46 is also included, that would be three big projects and asked if that would take multiple years. City Administrator Hagen stated that priority one would focus on this year and TIF eligible expenses. He asked and received confirmation that the TIF funds would need to be spent by November. He stated that they should choose projects that they can complete this year before winter. He noted that the waterfront improvements would be TIF eligible. Councilmember Musgrove stated that it would be helpful to know which expenses are TIF eligible and which ones could be completed. She noted that this is a lot of information and a lot of projects and having that additional information would help to create priorities. Public Works Committee / February 21, 2023 Page 4 of 12